Taliban suddenly decides to close secondary school for girls

Most schools for girls over the sixth grade have been closed since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August. The group had earlier said that all teenage girls would be allowed to return to classes from March 23, the start of the new school year.

But late Tuesday, the Taliban’s education ministry directed secondary schools for girls to remain closed until further notice. The ministry said that girls’ schools will only reopen once the uniforms are designed according to Islamic law and tradition.

In an interview, Wahidullah Hashimi, a representative of the ministry, said that no date had been set for the reopening of secondary schools for girls.

The international community has pressured the Taliban to respect women’s rights, beginning with the reopening of all schools for girls. Eager to recognize their government as legitimate, the Taliban have long stated that, in theory, they are in favor of education for teenage girls, as long as appropriate gender segregation arrangements are in place.

But women’s education remains a divisive issue for the Taliban. When they first came to power in the 1990s, they banned all education for girls, including primary school, and barred women from nearly all occupations.

Many Taliban are opposed to the idea that women and girls should receive education, or take an active role in public life. The Taliban leadership is also aware that softening its policy on women could prompt hardline members to move to the Islamic State’s regional branch. The Islamic State and the Taliban view each other as enemies.

Teachers, parents and hundreds of thousands of students preparing to return to school were taken aback by the late night announcement. On Wednesday morning, several girls put on their uniforms and went to school—only to find they had to go back home.

“I thought life would be back to normal again this spring, with girls going to school and chasing their dreams, but the devastation continues,” said Somaya, a 25-year-old high-school teacher in Kabul who didn’t. Wanted her full name to be used. , “With this announcement, I feel as if I entered the city for the first time: desperate, angry, insecure. The Taliban have not changed. Their attitude towards women has always been the same.”

International condemnation was swift. The UN mission in Afghanistan said it condemned the decision to extend the ban on teenage girls attending school.

The US in-charge for Afghanistan, Ian McCreery, said he was deeply disturbed by the news. “This is very disappointing and contrary to many assurances and statements of the Taliban,” he said.

Despite hearing that schools would remain closed, class VIII student Zainab Maqsoodi went to western Kabul on Wednesday morning hoping for her school to remain open. She joined a large group of girls who were waiting outside the main gate.

“We were not allowed to enter. The Taliban started firing in the air. I ran, I got scared. All the girls dispersed and ran away from the area.

Even before the Taliban took over Afghanistan, it has been particularly difficult for Ms. Maqsoodi to get an education. In May last year, suspected Islamic State militants stormed his school in western Kabul. She was injured in that attack, which still haunts her to this day.

“I appeal to the Islamic Emirate to allow us to progress and study for our country,” she said. The Taliban call their government the Islamic Emirate.

On hearing the news, a schoolgirl in Kabul burst into tears on live television. “What’s there to say? What can we do? We’re girls, we’re from Afghanistan. But we’re also humans. Why can’t we go to school?” He told a reporter from Afghanistan’s Tolo News television channel. “How long should this last? It’s already been 186 days.”

Afghan television showed that elsewhere in Kabul, a group of girl students in black-and-white uniforms protested against the closure of their school. Another group of schoolgirls, hiding their faces, released a video holding signs condemning the school ban.

Hijab is an excuse. Misogini is the plan,” read one of the signs, referring to the Islamic head covering. “Education is my right,” read another.

In September, the new Taliban government ordered the reopening of secondary schools for boys, but said nothing about girls. This was tantamount to ordering the closure of middle and high schools for girls.

The Taliban’s mixed attitude towards women’s education is reflected in their policies. Primary schools for girls reopened in September and women returned to university classes last month.

Since September, the Taliban have allowed some secondary schools for girls to reopen in some provinces. Those provinces are mostly in the north, where attitudes toward women are generally more liberal than those in the rural south, a traditional stronghold of the Taliban.

In one of those provinces, Balkh, the Taliban introduced rigid gender segregation after schools reopened in the fall.

“The changes are huge,” said a female teacher from the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Not going to meet him to resolve our issues.”

—Zameer Sar and Jalal Nazri contributed to this article.